It is known to fabricate cigarettes by the use of hand-operable devices which permit the insertion of tobacco in bulk or plug form into cigarette tubes. An example of such device is disclosed in Canadian Patent 1,271,389. These devices are for domestic use and permits a person to produce cigarettes in a more economical fashion. These types of devices and machines have been known for several decades, but with the majority of these devices only a single cigarette can be produced at a time and the production thereof is labor intensive. Dispensing machines are also known to dispense packages of cigarettes preselected by the user. However, the cigarettes are pre-packaged and such cigarettes are even more expensive than those conventionally bought over the counter.
There is a need, however, to provide a novel concept and method as well as a machine to automatically produce cigarettes in predetermined quantities, and quickly from bulk tobacco leaves or flakes which are preselected by a user.